Hundred Years' War 1
by Raynbowz
Summary: The Doctor meets up with his wife and children one hundred years after their separation. Will the family make it through their first real challenge? Second in the Adora series, and cannot stand alone.
1. Chapter 1

Hundred Years' War

A Doctor Who Story

1—Mother Never Lies

Thalmidor-Gregsithhupanarison raced to the top of the hill behind his house, his twin brother Kepalte-Kenarnatisilbashon only steps behind. They ran until they got to the tallest tree on the property, a Jeckinav. Its huge girth, low, sturdy limbs and waving tendrils made it a perfect place to play as children and a perfect place to speak privately now that they were older. The tree house they had built for themselves ages ago was still standing and they climbed into it now, shutting themselves away from the rest of the world.

"Did you see Mother today, Kenarn?" the first young man asked. "She was packing up the rest of my things, stuff I said was too babyish to take with me. She said I might want it."

Kenarn answered his twin, "Don't worry, Thalmidor, she did the same to me. I tried to tell her we could come get it again if we really _wanted_ it . . ."

"I think she doesn't want it around any more," Thalmidor declared.

Kenarn shook his head. "It's not like that at all; Mother never lies. She wants us to take it with us to show Father. He won't have seen any of it, and she says he'll want to . . ."

"Do you really think we _have_ a father? I saw in the TARDIS databanks how Gallifreyan children were cloned—'Loomed' they called it—for ages and ages. Maybe we were—"

"Mother never _lies_!" Kenarn insisted. "She might not tell you anything, but she _never_ lies. We have the pictures to prove it. Besides, Mother's been telling us forever about Father and how we would meet him someday. I wonder if he's as wonderful as Mother says . . ."

Thalmidor replied crisply, "If he was that wonderful she wouldn't have sent him away in the first place. There's got to be something wrong with him, something bad."

"Or maybe she's just an old stick-in-the-mud who didn't want to go adventuring, or living with a human version of a hummingbird. From what she says, Father never stands still for a moment and barely stops for breath when he talks. Gee, that sounds a lot like _you_, Thalmidor!"

"I'm nowhere near that bad," Thalmidor grumbled. "But I really have to wonder about Mother . . . and our father. Why would he just let Mother take us away?"

Kenarn said seriously, "You remember about Kassi and me, how we argued and clashed about everything, but still were crazy about each other? Maybe Mother and Father were the same way, though I can't see Mother being crazy about someone."

"She told us every regeneration's different, though the basics stay the same," Thalmidor said, musing. "Maybe this regeneration has changed her a lot. And who knows what kind of father we'll end up with. He might not come at all!"

"Mother said he was crushed when she took us away, so there's no way of telling. All I know is if Kassi and I had actually had children I would have never forgotten about them no matter how long I was gone or how much I changed. Maybe Father will be the same way. And he has a TARDIS!"

"That's not what _she_ said," Thalmidor corrected. "_She_ said he has an old, beat-up rust bucket that probably won't get him to the edge of the Solar System, let alone anywhere else. We'll have to take our TARDIS when it comes to it, if Mother will part with it."

Kenarn sighed. "I wish she would teach us to fly it . . ."

"We know the answer to that question by heart—'Your father will teach you; near-death experiences are his department.' I don't see what harm it would do to show us just once . . ."

"She'll be showing us tomorrow when we leave," Kenarn reminded his twin. "She'll have to if she's going to get us to Earth."

Thalmidor was just about to speak when his watch started chiming softly. He looked at it and said, "It's late. We'd better get back to the house."

Adora sat down on the porch swing and gently rocked while the twins cleaned up from dinner. She looked out at the sunset on the planet she had made home for herself and the twins and thought about tomorrow. Tomorrow, she would take them to their father, the Doctor.

She wouldn't dream of breaking her promise; that was beneath her. But she did wonder if she would ever see her children again. They would probably get wrapped up in the Doctor's way of living, his passion and brilliance—and decide they didn't need her any more. That would be the price she would pay for taking them from the Doctor. She couldn't change it, but it made her sad.

The twins loved her, she was sure of that. Both were intelligent, capable, and kind; they loved her and always would. She had not raised them to be the cold, power-hungry, proud beings her first children had been. She had learned that lesson from hard experience; the twins had to be taught to care about others and themselves. She owed their father no less, or herself. Kenarn had even had a committed relationship, one where Adora had not approved but dared not stand in his way. He had to be able to risk if he was ever going to find someone to share his lives with. As it happened, his girlfriend had only been a part of his life for ten years before she moved on, but Adora felt Kenarn had grown from the experience. He had always been more passionate, more overcome by his emotions, but now that had been slightly tempered. Thalmidor had yet to share his heart with anyone but his twin but Adora was not worried; he got along well with others but was too carefree to settle down at this point. She hoped that his time with his father would help him mature a bit.

His father. The Doctor.

Adora hadn't seen the Doctor in one hundred years. She remembered him though, all too well. She thought back to how he had looked when she left him, how horribly broken he had seemed. He had been willing to throw away everything that made him who he was just to be with her and the twins as a family, but she had known it wouldn't have been right and so she had left. She had settled here on Renstigon and had raised the twins on her own, but she had always talked about the Doctor with respect and love, had brought out the pictures, had made sure the twins understood what a good man he was. She knew he was a good man, knew how he loved her. She had loved him as well, loved him too much to chain him to one planet and time to fritter his days away. She desperately hoped the Doctor would take some time to heal from what she had done to him instead of immediately jumping forward to when he could have the twins as part of his lives again; if he didn't it would be awkward. But there was no way of knowing.

She heard the twins in the house, Kenarn singing and Thalmidor playing the piano. She had insisted that they learn, that they have music in their lives as well as sports, all the arts, languages, history . . . if there was any branch of study or pastime she had made sure they were exposed to it in some fashion. Adora didn't want the Doctor thinking she had neglected their education. It was true that the planet she was on was not very technologically advanced and that their science was limited, but she had done the best she could and she was sure the twins would be up to speed within a year or so. They were bright and the Doctor was a great teacher. Yes, she had done all she could for her children.

She just hoped their father would forgive her for it.

The Doctor looked in the mirror again, scowled, and tossed his tie aside in frustration. He got out another from the special rack in the Wardrobe Room and considered it, frowning. He had been at this for over an hour, and he still couldn't find the right tie. Maybe it was the shirt . . .

The TARDIS hummed at him loudly and he stopped himself, sighing. He wasn't ever going to find the perfect tie for this event and even if he did no one would notice it anyway. He grabbed the next one on the rack, took the shirt he'd picked out and left the Wardrobe Room telling his TARDIS, "I'm sorry for the mess; I just want everything to be perfect. I know you can't give them rooms until they come, but I'm sure you'll do a brilliant job with that; you always do. I wonder if I should pick up some more food . . ."

The TARDIS gave a little shiver and the hum increased.

"All right, all right!" the Doctor threw up his hands. "I'll stop fretting, I will . . ."

He reached his bedroom and laid out the clothes, then sat down on the bed. It was four years since Adora had left him on Earth, four long years. He had gone to Jack minutes after it happened and his immortal friend had let him cry and rage and then sulk for about six weeks. Jack threw him out after that, saying, "The Universe needs you. Get out there and right the wrongs. I'll even come with you for a little while, but your days of moaning and mourning have to end. You'll get your boys back, don't worry. It hurts now, but you'll get 'em back."

The two traveled together for two years, and then Jack decided one day to go back to Earth and his Ianto and the slow path. The Doctor didn't begrudge him; his friend had been more to him than he could express, but it was time for them to part ways. He promised Jack he would bring the twins by to meet him and then took off for parts unknown.

"Parts Unknown" had meant getting sucked into a time whirlpool formed by some creatures who were on the track to making time-ships but still hadn't got it quite right. It took him ages to get back to his regular time-stream and once he did he had to deal with an incursion of Sontarans on Ormion Twelve and once that was over there was a Mauve Alert . . .

By the time everything had settled down a bit and he could catch his breath, he was surprised to find that another two years had passed and he was ready. He had to see his children, see how Thalmidor and Kenarn had turned out. They were still young, still impressionable; he'd get his chance to teach them about the Universe and all its wonders before they got too old and jaded. There was still time.

He took a shower, dried and got dressed, then made his way to the Console Room, more nervous than he'd ever been in his lives. This meant the world to him, no, the Universe. He was going to see his children for the first time in a hundred years. Would they accept him, feel ambivalent, reject him? He had only Adora's promise that she would speak kindly of him . . . but wait, she wouldn't break her promise. Adora wouldn't lie to him. If she said she would tell the twins he was a good man, she would do so. She might have resented him or lost her love for him over the years, but Adora never lied. He set the coordinates and materialized, then took a deep breath and opened the doors.


	2. Chapter 2

2—Battle Lines

The Doctor stepped out into the cool spring afternoon to find Adora already there, but alone. She had regenerated; she was now less than five feet tall, a bit chubby, and had a mass of black, ringlet curls down to her waist. Her eyes were a light blue and she dressed in clothes that were stately and subdued. Before he could ask about the twins, she told him, "I asked the boys to wait for a bit; I wanted to talk to you first."

"You're looking well, Adora," he responded, coming forward and taking her slight hands in his own. "Only one regeneration?"

Adora nodded. "I don't think it suits me at all, but one doesn't usually get to choose these things. You're still in one piece, I'm glad to see."

"There's been some close calls, though; some much closer than I would have liked. It's been—wait a minute, I don't mean to alarm you; it hasn't been _that_ bad, not really, the boys will—"

Adora broke in, "Will be in capable hands, I'm sure. You might live on the edge, but if anyone can walk that line it's you. You'll keep the boys as safe as you possibly can. They were upset you know, when I left you . . . they fussed for almost two weeks. And they're eager to see you now; I just want to take care of our unfinished business. How long has it been? Please tell me you didn't jump right here from—"

The Doctor squeezed her hands gently as he spoke. "It's been four years. I've taken my time to weep and wail and accept. I went to a friend and he helped me and then I got into trouble all by myself and now I'm here. I forgive you, Adora. You had to do what you thought best . . ."

Adora responded seriously, "There's one thing you have to understand. I hurt you at the time and I'm sorry for that, but I don't regret what I did. They're yours now, yours to teach and grow and shape however you see fit . . ."

He looked at her sharply. "You're talking as if you'll never see them again, that I'll secret them away and never come back!"

"Won't you?" she whispered, lips quivering.

The Doctor sighed mightily. "We're talking about your children, Adora—our children. This isn't about taking turns or trying to one-up one another. It's about love and respect. I respect the choice you made and won't fault you for it. I hope you can respect the choice I'm making now to be a part of the boys' lives, but there's no reason for you to be excluded. You are welcome to come with us, to see things you could never dream of . . ."

Adora shook her head sadly. "That's not who I am, Doctor, not who I've ever been. Even on Gallifrey I wanted to be the giant fish in a small pond; not a minnow in a vast ocean. Your Universe is too big for me, that's all. I've done my best to prepare the boys; they've studied everything I could think of, plus my TARDIS' data banks, but it's no substitution for actually living the life. Perhaps after a few centuries they may tire of living at twice the speed of light . . ."

The Doctor pulled Adora in for a hug. "We won't wait that long to come and see you. Are you sure you want to stay where you've been?"

Adora nodded. "I've been writing romance novels, and I've even won over some of the critics. Nothing too fancy, but . . ."

"There's something I wanted to ask—where have the boys grown up?"

Adora answered, "Renstigon, near the Strawberry Nebula. Again, nothing fancy, but they had star travel and a strong appreciation and tolerance for diversity. I knew you would like that."

"Never heard of it, but that's nothing new. May I see the boys now?"

Adora nodded and stepped to the doors of her TARDIS. She called, "Boys? We're done now; you can come out and see him . . ."

Thalmidor came out first. He was tall and looked like the Doctor—unruly dark hair, freckles, and deep brown eyes. He was dressed in a forest green coverall and thick black boots and appeared to be in his late thirties. He walked right up to the Doctor and shook his hand firmly. "Father. It's good to see you. I barely remember, but . . ."

"Good to see you as well," the Doctor agreed.

Kenarn came forward slowly, with a shy smile. He looked a bit younger, was shorter and stocky, had light brown hair and hazel eyes and was dressed in a brown coverall with tan boots. As Thalmidor moved aside Kenarn walked into the Doctor's arms for a hug. "You told me late bloomers bloom brightest; I never forgot . . ."

The Doctor beamed as he hugged his son. "I did tell you. I hope it has helped you through many of life's challenges. Now, we must all share a meal together. I can take us anywhere you might like to see, Adora . . ."

"In your TARDIS?" Adora scoffed. "I'm surprised it can still lift itself off the ground!"

"I got here, didn't I?" the Doctor responded indignantly.

"And how many tries did it take you?"

"Let's not quarrel in front of the children," the Doctor responded hurriedly. "A meal. Any suggestions, boys?" the Doctor asked as he opened the door of his TARDIS.

Thalmidor looked at Kenarn, who said slowly, "Well, we've always wondered about what cotton candy looks like and how they make it . . ."

"A carnival!" The Doctor looked pleased. "We'll just have to find one. Adora, why don't you look for possible choices while I show the boys how to take a TARDIS into the Vortex. Now, Kenarn, you hold on to this, and Thalmidor, be ready to turn that, and . . ."

Adora had to grab on to one of the rails while she checked the TARDIS library as the TARDIS lurched and wobbled. The Doctor was in full teaching mode as he said cheerfully, "Now, we need to engage the time-chaining circuits right before we . . . the pink button, Thalmidor . . . there you go! Now, Kenarn, you have the magnetron acceleration unit powered up, so just turn . . . a bit too far, try again . . . brilliant!"

The movements stopped abruptly. The Doctor grinned as he told the twins, "Very good for a first try. You're both going to be brilliant, I can tell . . . did you find us a carnival, Adora?"

"What for?" she asked tartly. "We've just been on all the rides . . ."

The Doctor gave her a disappointed glance and she felt guilty. "I'll try again, shall I?" she said in a rush. "How about . . . how about . . . oh, here's one—'Chautauqua Carnival', established as a permanent site along Chautauqua Lake in 2076 after the old installation of 'Midway Park' was destroyed in the 'Chautauqua Lake Inferno' the year before. They have authentic carnival foods such as funnel cakes, caramel apples, and cotton candy . . . Traditional rides include the original merry-go-round, which somehow escaped the fire undamaged . . . Side show includes juggling torches, plasma eaters, a clown performance . . ."

The Doctor programmed in the coordinates and looked over at the twins. "Want to have a go at landing a TARDIS?"

Adora braced herself and closed her eyes tight while the Doctor walked the twins through how to leave the Vortex and materialize. It wasn't as bad as she had thought it would be, but she still couldn't wait to get back to her own TARDIS. The Doctor took Adora by the arm while telling the twins, "Now the fun thing about Earthlings is that you never know what they'll do. They can be some of the cruelest, most compassionate, moronic and intelligent beings you will ever come across. Be ready for anything." He stepped out with Adora and the twins took up the rear.


	3. Chapter 3

3—Shoestring Budget

The TARDIS had landed on the edge of the carnival among some trees. It was late morning and the carnival had just opened for the day. The Doctor and Adora headed for the ticket booth, but just before they got there the Doctor muttered, "Bother. They'll want money."

Adora sent him a withering glare. "You still don't carry money!? How many times do you come to this planet knowing their economic structure and _still_ forget the money? It's insane!"

"I didn't know we'd be coming," the Doctor replied defensively, pulling them over to a more private location. "I can handle the situation, don't fret . . ."

"You come to this planet several times a year, at least!" Adora hissed. "You should always have an emergency pack that includes funding sources—"

"That takes all the fun out of it!" the Doctor retorted. "Where's the adventure if all you have to do is pay your way? Improvising is a lot harder and—"

"Here's your ticket, Father," Thalmidor broke in. "And yours, Mother."

"We've got plenty of cash to see us through for food and other attractions," Kenarn grinned.

"What!?" Adora and the Doctor gasped in unison.

Kenarn led the way while Thalmidor said low, "You might not want to know, Mother; I mean, what do you expect when we have our own sonic screwdrivers . . ."

The Doctor was shocked. "You bought sonic screwdrivers for them? Brilliant! I never would have thought it of you, Adora . . ."

"Bought, nothing—we made them ourselves," Kenarn boasted. "Mother told us about yours and we got two from a catalog, then disassembled them and made our own improvements. Mine has sixty-two settings."

"Not bad, not a bad start at all," the Doctor encouraged. "You'll probably want to do some upgrading when we get back to the TARDIS; I'm sure you could add another hundred and fifty or so with the right equipment . . ."

The four walked through the carnival and studied the offerings. There were rides and food stands, carnival games, exhibits and entertainments. The first place they stopped was a food vendor selling cotton candy. "What flavor would you like, folks?" the vendor asked.

Adora shook her head. "No sweets, please," she said.

"Bubble gum is classic, isn't it?" Thalmidor asked.

The Doctor shrugged. "I'm not sure, actually."

"Here, Thalmidor—I'll get the bubble gum, and you can get the lime." Kenarn held out some money for the vendor. "Father?"

"I'll have to have the banana. Absolutely love bananas . . ."

"And sir," Thalmidor wheedled, "could you show us how the machine works?"

The vendor thought about it, and said finally, "I suppose it won't hurt; no one's here at the moment . . . now you put the flavored, colored sugar in here, it gets heated down there . . . and it spins into strands out here, where you collect it like this . . ."

The twins were fascinated by the process; they asked questions and debated the merits of using a fine grade sugar over larger crystals. At last they left, taking with them a sample of each flavor in a tiny bag. "Enjoy the carnival!" the vendor called after them.

"No sweets?" the Doctor asked Adora. "What about your coffee toffee bars?"

Adora shuddered. "Can't stand either, actually. This regeneration's all about fresh berries and seafood, potatoes and earl grey with a hint of lemon. A much more refined palate, I say . . ."

"Really? I should take you all wine-tasting; there's a lot of wineries in the area producing good products."

Adora considered, then replied, "Now that you mention it, I don't think I've ever _had_ wine. I know the process . . ."

"I found something for you, Mother!" Thalmidor called. "Ribbon fries, they're called. They take a whole potato, cut it thin and curling, and turn it into _this_."

Adora could smell the fries cooking, a delicious odor. She looked at the display and said, "I don't think I can eat all of that . . ."

"Mother, it's one potato!" Kenarn protested. "It just looks like a lot."

"And on top?" she asked, interested.

Thalmidor told her, "You can get plain with ketchup, vinegar and salt, or go all out and get the melted cheese, sour cream, bacon, and chive special like Father and Kenarn did."

Adora's eyes bulged. "That looks . . . I don't want to think about . . . is there even a potato down there?"

Kenarn and the Doctor were already digging in, making appreciative noises. "I think it'll be vinegar and salt for me, Thalmidor, if I can finish it," Adora said in a small voice.

Thalmidor took his mother's hand. "We can share," he said diplomatically.

They went through all the food vendors, sampling most of the items there. After that they went through the carnival games center and looked at all the prizes and challenges. "Ridiculous," Kenarn muttered. "I can _make_ better stuffed animals than these."

"Remember, Kenarn, it's about the challenge as much as it is the prize, for humans, anyway," the Doctor pronounced.

"Aren't most of the games rigged, Father?" Thalmidor wanted to know.

"I'm not sure if that's still allowed or not; it was true of the old-fashioned ones . . ." the Doctor mused.

They passed by a stall where the barker called out, "Guess your weight, age, month of birth, only two dollars, if I'm not right within two years you win a prize. You, little lady, guess your age?"

"Don't even, Adora," the Doctor warned. "It's cheating by any sense of the word."

Adora had already turned around and was smiling sweetly at the barker, who said, "Two dollars please, miss. And now, let me see . . . turn 'round please, miss . . . I'll say, fourteen?"

"These are my sons," Adora said proudly.

The barker's face fell. "Any prize you want, ma'am."

Triumphant, Adora searched through the various prizes until she found a set of pink fuzzy dice and gave them to the Doctor. "For your TARDIS," she told him.

The Doctor wouldn't look at her, but he took the dice.


	4. Chapter 4

4—The Tunnel of Love

Thalmidor, Adora, the Doctor and Kenarn continued to explore the carnival. They saw the machete juggler, but were told the torch juggler and plasma eater only did their performances at night when they could be better appreciated. They were heading for the rides when an old Hensua woman called from out of a dark tent, "Care for a read? Palms read, futures read, cards read, for a small fee. See what's coming to you, what's coming with you and what's coming after you."

The Doctor didn't stop. "Keep moving," he said quietly.

"But Father," Thalmidor questioned, "if it isn't real, what's the harm—"

There was a coldness in the Doctor's eyes. "Keep moving!" he growled.

Kenarn whispered to Thalmidor, "Wonder what that's about."

"Not sure," Thalmidor murmured. "Maybe Mother knows . . ."

The four kept going, but the twins wondered. Adora wondered herself. The old Hensua was just playing tricks; nothing harmful or even worth notice. There was no way the Doctor could believe what some old crone might make up to "earn" her keep, but his reaction . . . it wasn't like him, not at all. She decided she would ask sometime, but not while he looked like that.

They kept going until they got to the rides. There were quite a few offerings: names like "UFO", "Gravitron", "Tilt-A-Whirl" and "Scrambler". There was a Ferris Sphere, the merry-go-round, a real wooden roller coaster as well as a hyper-steel one and . . .

Adora clutched at the Doctor's arm. "The Octopus!" she breathed. "We have to ride it—for Lunnie . . ."

The Doctor smiled down at her. "We do indeed. Boys, please excuse us and don't get into trouble. Your mother and I have an engagement."

The Doctor and Adora went to stand in line and the twins sat down on a bench to wait. Thalmidor spoke first. "So much for Father—he's completely bonkers!"

"He's just eccentric; I like him," Kenarn said. "And Mother's too prim-and-proper for words; I'm surprised he can tolerate her. And the way she's snubbing his TARDIS—it's got character!"

"It's got a bicycle pump as one of the parts," Thalmidor pointed out. "The thing looks like it could fall into a black hole at any second. I don't wonder that Mother's afraid."

"She's not afraid; she's . . . she's . . . prejudiced!"

Thalmidor looked steadily at his twin. "You want to say 'stuck-up', but you're too polite to do it . . . I know you, Kenarn. Well, at least we know why they're not together . . ."

"Yes, but did you see the look they had just now?" Kenarn pressed. "They really do care for each other. Neither wants to be the first to say it, is all."

"Maybe they just need some alone time to express their feelings," Thalmidor mused. "I mean, it's been a hundred years and Mother's regenerated. Wonder if they want to try again?"

"No way of knowing; I don't think Mother would tell us. Too personal."

"Wonder if we could ask _him_? You're the sensitive one, Kenarn—would he go for it?"

Kenarn shook his head. "I don't think so; he'd probably think he was sneaking behind Mother's back. They respect one another too much to gossip—another sign they should be together."

Thalmidor sighed. "So you know they should be a couple, and I know it . . . how do we get _them_ to know it?"

"Look behind us," Kenarn said suddenly.

Thalmidor turned around, then grinned. "I agree! We'll do it like this . . ."

The Doctor and Adora got off the Octopus laughing. "Do you remember the bow in her hair?" Adora giggled.

The Doctor was grinning from ear to ear. "She was always trying to keep it straight. And the snacks I had to buy for both of you! It almost sent me to the poorhouse."

"You bought snacks for her as well?" Adora sounded surprised. "I didn't know that . . . what did you bring her?"

"She was mad for the fried butterflies with squid ink they had there. I never did understand how an octopus could want squid ink to eat."

Adora said, "We both know how much of an insult it is to be called a squid . . . From what I understood, which isn't much, there's a huge difference between a squid and an octopus. Squids might not even be sentient."

The Doctor shrugged. "We'll never know now, hopefully. My wish is that none of us have to see the inside of a hospital as a patient for the rest of our lives, however many that might be. Speaking of which—"

He broke off as the twins came up to them looking worried. "Mother, Father," Kenarn called, "There's this ride you have to go on . . . our sonics were giving us weird readings . . ."

The Doctor's eyes lit up, but Adora looked a little doubtful. She knew her sons well and there was something they weren't sharing. Still, it was too late now; the Doctor had bitten in deep and was almost pulling her to the ride. There was no line, so Adora almost missed seeing the sign above the entrance: "The Tunnel of Love".

She turned partway around and glared at the twins, but they just waved at her, grinning. She almost tripped as the Doctor hurried her into the two-person swan boat in the dim light and started waving his sonic screwdriver around. _Drat those boys,_ she thought to herself. They had been with their father only a few hours but already knew how to push his buttons. "Put it away," she sighed as the boat started to move.

"What? I'm getting nothing out of the ordinary . . ."

"Put it away," Adora repeated. "The boys were just trying to trick us into going on this ride. Didn't you see the sign?"

"Sign? I'm not picking up anything from my—"

"Not _that_ sign, idiot, the name of the ride—'The Tunnel of Love'".

The Doctor deflated a little. "You mean they didn't . . ."

Adora patted his hand and said gently, "There's nothing wrong, so you can put your sonic away and we can get off this ride as soon as possible. I thought they were being sneaky . . ."

"But why?" the Doctor asked plaintively. "What reason would—"

"Are you really that naive? They want us to 'get back together', as though we were ever together to begin with. They seem to think all it takes is a little private time to get us to love each other. I never did go into the more intimate details of our relationship; it's none of their business to start with . . ."

The Doctor looked like a kicked puppy. "I thought we already love each other," he mumbled after a time.

Adora said hurriedly, "We do, we do! It's just . . . there's different types of love and ours is . . . is more respect and caring. We're not wildly passionate people."

The Doctor was quiet for several minutes, then suggested, "I could be, if . . ."

"Now don't you start!" Adora said sharply. "I'm not going to complicate our lives with something we already know will only bring misery to all of us. You are you and no one better. I am me and as this regeneration has clearly shown, I am not you. It would kill you to live my life and it would probably literally kill me to live yours, depending on how wild a day you're having. We've _been_ through this, Doctor! It's why you haven't seen your sons in a century. I'm not trying to be cruel; I'm being realistic and if you can't handle it you should probably take me back to my TARDIS now and save all of us some considerable grief—particularly the boys."

Again, the Doctor fell silent. At last he said, "I love you, Adora, and—"

"And that's all right," Adora broke in hastily. "It's . . . imagine if the only way I could show you love was to make pear preserves and pear pies and everything to do with pears. You can't stand them and even if they're offered with love you would be miserable. You love me, and I appreciate it, but all you can offer me is either something I don't want or something that involves changing the basic foundation of who you are, which I won't tolerate. Perhaps some day you won't be as restless and I won't be as stodgy and we can find a balance, but it's not going to be soon and you have to accept it. Don't pine away for me, Doctor, just don't. Now why are we still on this thing?"

"What?"

"We've passed that huge bouquet of flowers at least three times now, not to mention the sappy kissing statues and the music makes me want to pull my ears off. No, don't try to—"

It was too late; the Doctor had shifted his weight enough to unbalance them. Adora tried to compensate, but she didn't weigh enough to really be able to do anything and then the Doctor shifted back quickly, and then . . . then it was too late. The swan rolled over, and Adora found herself chest-deep in cold, dirty water. The Doctor ended up in the drink as well and started babbling, "I'm so sorry Adora, I wasn't thinking . . . they've stopped the ride now and I'm sure they'll come for us . . . see, the lights are brighter . . . I apologize, I just . . ."

Adora gave him a withering look, and he stopped talking.

The ride attendants scolded them for falling in, saying the boats weren't meant for sudden or energetic movement. Adora wished she could just go under the water and hide; she was completely humiliated. The Doctor kept trying to make things better, but she was too embarrassed to shut him up and too kind to kick him in the shins in front of everyone.

As they came out the twins hurried over and helped them out. "What happened, Mother?" Thalmidor asked anxiously. "We thought we were only getting our money's worth, but when the attendants ran in there . . . are you hurt?"

"Money's worth?" Adora asked, a dangerous tone in her voice.

Thalmidor turned away, red-faced and Kenarn looked down at his boots. "We paid half our cash to have the attendants take you through five times," he explained. "They can do that, you know; if they feel the riders need more time they use a different tunnel to take you around again. We didn't think anything bad would happen . . ."

Adora stood up as tall as she could and said sternly, "You haven't learned yet that your father's a disaster magnet and if there's the slightest chance of something going wrong, it will."

She wrung out her hair as much as she could, then started glancing around. "Where did he go?"

Thalmidor told her, "He ran off to the Costume Shop; sometimes they have Theme Days and you can buy stuff so you fit in . . . here he comes!"

The Doctor raced over, a bag in his hands. "This should fit; there's a bathroom over there where you can change . . ."

Adora took the bag and went into the ladies room. She rinsed her hair out as best she could and then reached into the bag for what the Doctor had bought for her. Her cheeks turned bright red and she almost wished she had drowned on the ride rather than accept what the Doctor had chosen but she had no money of her own to get something else and wasn't sure the other options wouldn't be worse. In the end she forced herself to get into the Wonder Woman costume and reminded herself that she never had to come back to Earth if she didn't want to.

When she came out Kenarn almost laughed, but Thalmidor poked him sharply in the ribs and he schooled his face into one of pity. The Doctor said brightly, "All set? Why don't we check out the Fun House . . ."

He went first, with the twins behind him. Adora came last, hoping night would come soon and hide her garments. Everyone probably thought she was ten years old in her get-up, but she held her head high and tried not to die of shame.


	5. Chapter 5

5—Danger Zone

Adora headed into the TARDIS, still damp and uncomfortable. Kenarn and Thalmidor were both next to the Doctor, examining the console and discussing how his TARDIS differed from Adora's. They were speaking in Gallifreyan, of course; Adora insisted that they speak it at home unless they were learning another language at the time. The three men took the TARDIS into the Vortex and it felt a bit smoother to Adora than it had in the morning. The Doctor seemed to be in heaven with people to teach and show off for and the twins were deeply interested both in learning about a TARDIS and pleasing their father. She was happy for all of them, but was also glad she would be leaving; there was no place for her in this entourage. Before she could leave the Console Room and change, however, there was a violent wrenching that threw them all to the floor. The Doctor got to his feet first, checked the controls and said grimly, "Tractor beam. I thought we were in a deserted portion of space . . ."

"You had the shields off?" Adora shouted. "You were supposed to be taking me back to my TARDIS!"

"I tried, but she seemed to be having some trouble, so I was just giving her a moment and showing the boys how to change her layout . . ."

"It's your TARDIS, isn't it!" Adora challenged. "Drat this . . . this _thing!_ It knows how much you want me to stay and so it decided . . . never mind, what's got us?"

"I have no idea," the Doctor admitted. "Whatever it is, it's enormous. No markings or ship design I know, which is good . . ."

"Wouldn't it be better if you did know, Father?" Kenarn wanted to know.

The Doctor shook his head. "Most of the ship designs I know are of people we don't want to meet, as it happens, so it's a good thing I can't identify it, or should be. Now we'll have to wait for the TARDIS shields to charge and then we can leave."

"Good," Adora told him. "We'll wait this out and . . . hold on a minute, how long will this take? We're not talking weeks or months, are we?"

"No, no!" the Doctor replied hurriedly. "Six hours at most, I swear . . ."

Adora sighed mightily.

"Father," Thalmidor broke in, "Can't we see what's out there? If you don't know who they are this might be a chance for you to make some new friends, broaden your horizons . . ."

"Have some fun!" Kenarn added.

Adora was already shaking her head, her fists balled. She had known something like this was bound to happen if she stayed long enough in the Doctor's aura of adventure. She almost decided to have a tantrum and behave the age of her clothing or younger, but she stopped herself; the twins were here. She had to keep her dignity in front of her sons. She used a relaxation technique she had learned when she was in the hospital, and said slowly, "If we are going out there, you're all going to have to follow some rules. Boys, you will listen to your father, do exactly what he tells you to do and you won't wander off. Doctor, we're going to stay together and make this foray into the unknown as short as possible and when we meet these people you will keep your mouth _shut_ and let me do the talking. Does everyone understand?"

Three heads nodded vigorously, and Adora was pleased. She opened the door and stepped out with the Doctor behind her and the twins in the rear.

They found themselves in complete darkness and couldn't see anything. Suddenly a powerful, ringing voice told them, "Step forward!"

Adora didn't want to move seeing as she wasn't sure how much room there was, but the voice called again, "Step forward!"

She inched her way up slowly until she ran into a set of bars in front of her, narrow bars. She stopped, and felt the Doctor put a hand on her shoulder. He bent down and whispered in Gallifreyan, "Why did you stop?"

"There's a set of bars in front of us," Adora murmured back. "It's too dark to see—"

The unseen voice boomed again as a single spotlight shone down on them. "Tall one, what is your name?"

"He's the—" Adora began

"Silence! Only the tall one will speak. Tall one, what is your name?"

The Doctor moved so he was parallel with Adora and replied, "I am the Doctor."

"Who?"

"The Doctor!" he shouted.

"And the others?"

"This is Adora," the Doctor pointed, "the one with dark hair is Thalmidor, and the other is Kenarn. What do you want with us?"

Thalmidor said, "More bars on each side," he said. "Looks like we're in a cage. Kenarn, try stepping back, see if we can get to the TARDIS."

Before Kenarn could move there was a noise, and the surface they were on started to rise. "No good," he said. "There's nothing behind us, but now we'll fall . . ."

"Doctor, is this your family, your friends, slaves . . . what is your relationship?"

"This is my family," the Doctor confirmed. "What do—"

"Silence! You will play. It is regrettable that your daughter is so young, but no exceptions can be made."

"Daughter?" Adora snapped. "I'm—"

"You will not speak!" the voice commanded. "Only Doctor will speak for your family. You will enter the arena and then the labyrinth. There you will be given further instructions. For now you will look good for the crowd and will be silent."

"Crowd?" the Doctor asked.

The platform continued to rise and they could now hear voices, shouts and laughs and even some clapping. Just then the lights came up and they could see they were in the center of a huge arena packed full with humanoid people. As the lights brightened the crowd started to cheer. The unseen voice announced, "Welcome one and all to—The Game! See the contestants fight for their lives, see who will survive and who will fall. You at home can get involved by typing in the secondary TV code for our program—hexa five nine twelve lemon epsilon. And now for our contestants: introducing the Who Family—Doctor, Adora, Thalmidor, and Kenarn. For those of you with concern there will be extra time and a modified playing field seeing that one member of the family is underaged. Everyone is invited to supplement this family with supplies and hints by donating money on your charge pad, also using the secondary TV code. Be aware that the family receives only seventy percent of your donation and said supplements will only be available to the family after they have completed a Challenge Question. Now, let's get started with—The Game!"

The platform started moving again and the crowd went wild. The Doctor told the others, "I'm not sure, but I think this is the Quilm Arena. The Quilm capture people throughout the galaxy and force them to play a game with a labyrinth, time limit and puzzles or riddles that have to be solved before you can move on. They're under a Condemn Order from the Shadow Proclamation and they know it, so they'll make it relatively quick. We definitely have to stay together; if one of us wanders off and gets lost they'll most likely be killed. There will be cameras and other recording equipment so that those watching can keep in the action; we'll leave them alone."

"Why can't we disable them, Father?" Thalmidor asked.

"If they can't see us, they won't give us extra time or supplies and that's the only way we'll make it. Adora, you're not going to like it but you have to look cute and helpless for those cameras so people will have pity and give us things, and we're going to have to baby you along as well."

Adora gritted her teeth, but nodded. She had heard stories of the Quilm, none of them pleasant. They would need every advantage they could get and she could gain them a lot if she played the part of an innocent, helpless child. "Are they still watching us?" she asked.

"Not sure," Kenarn said. "The floating globes are gone . . ."

"Let's see what our assets are," the Doctor said rapidly. "We have three sonic screwdrivers, a supposedly helpless team member, we're all dressed for running . . ."

"Not in these," Adora admitted, looking down at the slippers. "How much running?"

"There's no way to tell," the Doctor admitted. "If it's a lot I might have the boys carry you and they'll switch off."

"Father," Kenarn said, "They said something about needing to beat some challenge before they'll give us anything, so we have to make sure we can get that far at least."

"Right," the Doctor responded.

The platform stopped moving and they found themselves in a dark tunnel. There was light at the end of it and a short figure was waiting. A shrill voice called, "This way, contestants. You need to get your instructions and start out."

"And if we refuse?" the Doctor asked coldly.

The figure answered, "If you refuse you can stay here and die; this tunnel will be vacuum in a few minutes."

"Let's go," the Doctor said tightly.

They hurried through to the end of the tunnel and the short being, red-faced and wearing a black uniform handed them a paper. "Is that a map?" Kenarn wanted to know.

The being replied, "It is written instructions on what you can and cannot do while playing The Game. Can anyone in the family read?"

"Papa," Adora whined, "Why does it ask? Even _I_ can read . . ."

"That's all right, Adora," the Doctor answered, playing along. "You know there are people in the galaxy who can't, and it's sad. Thalmidor, can you read them off?"

"No flying, levitating or teleportation allowed . . . all dangerous living creatures must be disabled or killed, no just sneaking around them . . . at least some measure of consumables must be eaten or drunk immediately unless we have a backpack . . . no suicide or euthanasia allowed . . . there's an hour mourning period if one of us dies and the body is disposed of by the game operators . . ."

"Actually," the red being told them, "that's incorrect, it's one of the modifications; due to the tender age of the daughter three hours are allowed for a death, and five hours if she's the victim . . ."

Thalmidor glared at the being for a moment, then continued reading. "In the event of getting more supplies than we can carry there's a fifteen-minute allowance for us to decide what to keep, and for every item we refuse we get a minute added to our time. Food and water can't be refused, but we don't have to take it all . . ."

"That's another modification; usually it's only five minutes, with thirty seconds added per item," the being pointed out. "It's only the second time we've had a group with a contestant this young, so we're working on the fly . . ."

The Doctor turned toward the being and said coldly, "If you really cared, you'd let her go and let the three of us do it on our own."

"Oh, no!" the being protested, shocked. "It's always four contestants, no more and no less."

Thalmidor continued, "There is a half hour rest period after we've solved each Challenge Question; it also is mandatory . . . the Challenge Questions are logic puzzles, but there are other challenges along the way like dangerous animals and robots, an obstacle course, the time limit on the labyrinth itself . . . that's a question—how much time do we get?"

"It should be coming through in just—ah, here we are!" the being announced, looking at a wrist strap. "Six hours, not counting rests or extra time you can earn. Here," he said, handing the wrist strap to Kenarn. "When this turns blue your time starts and once it's black you're done. If you haven't reached the end of the labyrinth by then you are killed by Dalek weaponry."

The Doctor paled. "How did you get your hands on that kind of—"

"Papa, does it matter?" Adora asked. "I want to use the bathroom and I can't until I hear the rules . . ."

The red being patted her head and told her, "There are facilities here and at the end of each Challenge Question, if you survive. Right over there, little one . . ."

Adora put her hands on her hips. "Rules first!"

Thalmidor read, "No damaging Game property without a serious penalty . . . and that's it."

Adora rushed into the bathroom and the being told the men, "I didn't want to say it in front of the child, but if you make it through the labyrinth and have committed a major rule infraction you are executed by your choice of method, no limits or exclusions. Just something you need to keep in mind. It would be a shame to let your beautiful daughter die . . ."

The Doctor glared balefully at the red being, who stopped speaking and looked nervous. It moved several steps away from him, which only put it in closer contact to the twins. It didn't seem to like that either and crept toward the tunnel. As soon as Adora had emerged it told them, "You have two minutes before you must enter the labyrinth, which is beyond that red line in front of you. A horn will sound. Good luck to you, for the little one's sake."

It entered the tunnel and a metal door slammed down immediately behind it.

The Doctor asked Adora testily, "What was that all about? You don't need a restroom any more than I need Grexigowry mouthwash!"

"I was just getting us some supplies," Adora told him. "We now have a spring, a roll of toilet paper and a long shard of glass from the mirror. It's better than nothing . . ."

The Doctor took the items and placed them in his coat pockets. "Is everyone ready?"

"As ready as I'll be," Kenarn responded.

Thalmidor stepped to the line, face set. "I'm ready."

The Doctor looked to Adora. "Love?"

"We'll make it," she encouraged.

The horn sounded, and they entered the labyrinth.


	6. Chapter 6

6—Hop To It

Upon first entry the Doctor told everyone, "We're going to have to move fast, but not so fast we're hit with a trap. Adora, you're behind me and Kenarn, you're last. Let's go."

"Let me be last," Adora pleaded. "I can't run—"

"That's why you're in the middle," Kenarn spoke up. "Right, Father?"

The Doctor nodded. "We can't risk you getting lost."

They went as quickly as they could through the maze of passages. The Doctor took out his sonic screwdriver and used it as an echo-locator, checking the paths. "I'm listening for a bounce-back; that means the turn is a dead end. It should work unless there's a really long dead end. It doesn't help a lot, but it's something . . ."

Despite the Doctor's instructions, Adora found herself falling back after the first half-hour. She tried to keep up but the shoes on her feet were little more than slippers and the floor was smooth enough that she kept slipping. She kept her legs going as fast as she could and tried to keep her balance. It was when she lost sight of them for the fifth time that her heart failed her; she was definitely going to be a liability. Adora turned around a corner and almost slammed into the others. "What's ahead?"

"It's the obstacle course," Thalmidor told her. "It looks tough . . ."

Adora peered into the dimly-lit room. In front of them was what looked like a flat escalator, running backward and sloped at a thirty-degree angle. It ended at a platform. Above that was a curious sight; it looked like the workings of a bicycle, only it was attached to the ceiling, with four of them in a row and empty space underneath. She couldn't see much else, but what she saw was enough. "I'm staying here. There's no way—"

"We'll find a way," the Doctor said sternly. "You're strong and capable. We'll find a way. Boys, get up the hill."

Kenarn took a few tries before he could make it up. Once there he waited for Thalmidor and gave him a hand once he was close enough. The Doctor got as close to the slope as possible, and told the twins, "We've got to do this in one try, otherwise someone's going to get hurt. I'm going to toss Adora to you. Adora, roll yourself into a ball, but as soon as you're in the air kick out your arms so the boys can grab you. Everyone ready? One . . . Two . . . Now!"

The Doctor heaved Adora into the air. Thalmidor and Kenarn leaned out as far as they could and Thalmidor caught her arm. Kenarn grabbed onto Thalmidor and they pulled Adora to safety. The Doctor dashed up the slope and they were all on the platform. There they could see the rest of the obstacle course. There were the contraptions on the ceiling that led to another platform, then a slide down to a lower level with a cable off the ground and ropes hanging from the ceiling, then a rope attached to another sloped "hill", and finally a narrow trampoline at the far end.

An unseen voice boomed at them, "The Who Family must make it across the course using the hand bikes, the Grapevine Walk, the Hoist, and the Trampoline to Freedom. The little one will take the steps on the right down to the trampoline and start hopping. The faster she hops, the more extra time the rest of the family receives to get through the course. You have five minutes from the time she reaches the trampoline, with an extra second for each hop. Good luck, Who Family on our first Special Challenge—the Obstacle Course!"

Adora headed to the trampoline and started jumping with all her might, trying to keep the jumps low. The Doctor jumped up to reach the hand bike first in line and called, "Let me get about three feet ahead of you, Kenarn, and then leave three feet between you and Thalmidor. Don't worry so much about speed as safety."

The three men "biked" across the ceiling to the next platform, then slid down the slide. Adora kept jumping as fast as she could manage. She watched as Thalmidor walked across the cable, hanging onto the ropes as they came down from the ceiling. Kenarn went next and got over quickly. The Doctor almost fell, but grabbed onto the rope he was on and waited until he had his balance back before he continued. Then came the rope attached to the slope. Both Thalmidor and the Doctor had trouble, but they made it with a few seconds to spare. They dashed to the trampoline and bounced across it to the exit of the course, Adora last of all.

The voice announced, "The Who Family has survived the first Special Challenge—the Obstacle Course—well done! You have a little time to rest before the next stage of—The Game. Donators, it's too late to give for this challenge question, but you can start giving for Challenge Question Two; this family is going to need your help!"

All four Time Lords sat down and rested, panting.


	7. Chapter 7

7—Lost and Found

After forty seconds the unseen voice started speaking again. "Who Family, it's time for the first Challenge Question. Answer correctly and move on; fail and die. Now, the question: Three castaways were shipwrecked on a deserted planet. Out of food and starving, they all agreed that one of them had to die. The other two would live off of the dead person until rescuers found them. All three humanoids were single, the same shape, species and weight and all had the same skills. None of them had any family; they were all orphaned when they were children. However, it took ten seconds for them to choose a victim. How did they decide so easily on who should be sacrificed for the other two? You have one minute to come up with an answer, you may ask three yes-or-no questions and only Doctor will speak. Time starts—now!"

Thalmidor asked low, "What about gender?"

"Is gender a factor?" the Doctor called out.

"No," the voice intoned. "Two more questions."

"Health," Adora murmured. "One of them has a terminal condition."

The Doctor asked, "Is health a factor?"

"No. One more question."

"Maybe one of them had been eating better than the others? More lean meat?" Kenarn wondered.

"That's it!" the Doctor told them. "Meat! Or lack thereof . . ."

He announced grandly, "One of the castaways was a vegetarian!"

"Excellent, Who Family—you have passed Challenge Question One. Step onto the blue square to be transported to Level Two and your donated supplies."

They stepped on the platform, which raised slowly. Once they got to the next level they saw a pile of items on one side of a small room, with water bottles and boxes on the other. The unseen voice declared, "This is—Lost and Found! Find useful items, cast the others away. Only two family members can search through the items at a time. Food and water are separated out as neither can be totally refused. Your time begins—now!"

Thalmidor started digging at one side of the pile, with Kenarn on the other. "Everything's tangled up in this huge net; this could take longer than we think," Thalmidor said.

"Do the best you can, then," the Doctor encouraged.

Kenarn called out, "Braided steel cable, at least two hundred feet. It's pliable, but strong."

"We'll keep that," the Doctor directed. "Try to find backpacks or other carrying items."

Thalmidor held out a small backpack. "This will work for Mo—for Adora," he corrected himself. "Just her size."

Adora got into character and clapped her hands. "Yay! I can help . . ."

The Doctor handed it over to Adora. "Kenarn, stop a moment. Adora, pack up as much water as you can carry. What type of food is it?"

Adora opened a box. "Energy bars, with a hundred to a box. There's only a little water . . ."

"Set aside three bars for each of us to eat now, and pack up a box worth of the rest," the Doctor told her. "We'll get by with the water we do have. Back to work, Kenarn."

"Father!" Thalmidor called. "It's a case of neodymium magnets in varying sizes, plus remote force-field generators so they only stick when you want them to. Some of them are really big! There's even a controller for all the force fields."

"Brilliant!" the Doctor grinned. "Make sure they're set to neutral, then put them with the cable. Can't you pull that net aside?"

"It's tangled in everything. If we had a knife . . ." Thalmidor told him.

"Here," the Doctor got out the shard of glass from the bathroom. "See if this helps."

Thalmidor cut the mass of net with the glass, then continued digging. "Yeah," he commented, "that really made a difference. Cut your side, Kenarn."

"More backpacks," Kenarn announced as he took the shard of glass, "one for each of us."

"A shovel? What good can that do?" Thalmidor wondered.

"Toss it," the Doctor told him.

"Oh, look!" Kenarn called. "Boots with lace bows for Adora! Better than those slippers any day. And there's socks to go with them."

Adora was already pulling at her feet. "I can't wait . . ."

"Something else—it's a whole outfit, Adora. There's pants, a sturdy blouse, all in your favorite color—heather grey." Kenarn handed the clothing to Adora.

"I'll be right—" Adora began.

"Wait, Adora," the Doctor told her. "You can change when we have our rest period."

"More clothes for Adora," Thalmidor commented. "Lots and lots of clothes, in fact . . ."

"You can choose two outfits, Adora, and that's all," the Doctor directed. "We aren't going to be here long, so when the boys finish pick out your favorites and make it quick."

Thalmidor made a disgusted face as he pulled out a frying pan. "Are they serious?"

"Just keep looking," the Doctor said. "Kenarn has hair bows, Adora, and a hairbrush . . ."

Adora took them from Kenarn. "It's nice to know people are donating all these pretty things to me . . ." she simpered.

"I've got one better," Thalmidor announced. "It's a tiara."

"I can't," Adora declared. "It'll just get broken."

Thalmidor passed it over anyway. "It seems really strong and you'll look good in it. You really should give it a try. Look at all the stones."

Adora was embarrassed inside, but resolved to play her part. "It is sparkly . . ."

"Father, look at this—a long energy rifle with twenty extra charge packs!" Kenarn shouted.

"No," the Doctor said quietly. "No weapons."

"But Father," Thalmidor protested, "we have to disable the live creatures and—"

"No."

Adora reached up and took his arm. "Papa, Mother would tell us we _have_ to take it. She'd say we have to protect our lives more than our morals at this stage. _Please_, Papa . . ."

"I'm not touching it," the Doctor said finally, "but one of the boys . . ."

Thalmidor took the rifle from Kenarn and slung it over his shoulder with the strap. "I'm the best shot, Kenarn."

"No doubt," Kenarn agreed. "Tongs? Really?"

"What is this thing?" Thalmidor handed off a large duffel bag to the Doctor.

"It's a . . . a tent." The Doctor put it in the pile of useless items.

"Towels, Father," Kenarn said. "Huge, but kinda thin. We might need the cloth."

"Fine," the Doctor answered

"There's some cable-cutters to go with the cable, Father," Thalmidor said.

"Pack those up as well . . . is that the lot?" the Doctor asked.

"Looks like the rest is just clothes, Father," Kenarn said.

"How much water did we get, Adora?" the Doctor asked.

Adora hefted up her backpack. "I've got four bottles, plus the energy bars."

The Doctor nodded. "Get some clothes and we're done. I've changed my mind, we'll each drink a water now; we can't risk getting dehydrated and there isn't much to start with. We'll share the other supplies between us. Kenarn, give me back the glass; we'll probably need it again."

Adora plowed through the clothes quickly, deciding on a mint green top with pink accents and sturdy grey pants. She put a lavender outfit in her pack and went into the bathroom to change. When she came out she sat down to put on her boots, then started brushing her hair. Once she was done she started eating and drinking with the others.

The unseen voice announced, "And that's the end of—Lost and Found! Discarded items will add up to more time and the rest period's begun. Let's thank our sponsors . . ."

The voice died away. Adora took a last swallow of water and told the others, "I have an idea. We can drink this water and then refill the bottles in the bathroom."

"I don't think it'll work," Thalmidor mused. "I can't get the top to come off and if we have to cut it it'll be useless."

"Good idea though," the Doctor encouraged. "I wish there was a way to tell people what we need . . ."

"If we had pen and paper, I'd just write a note and wave it in front of the cameras," Adora responded. "It's too bad."

She dropped her empty water bottle and put the tiara in her hair using some bobby pins that had come with it. She shook her head hard, but it didn't move. "All done. Am I pretty now?" she asked babyishly.

"Pretty as a picture," the Doctor told her. "Now, let's all meditate for a few minutes and clear our minds. Boys, I assume you know how?"

"I'm horrible," Thalmidor admitted, "never got the knack, somehow."

"If you can't," Kenarn spoke up, "you can share out the supplies . . . save us time."

The Doctor shook his head. "I want you to try, Thalmidor," he urged. "Mental rest right now is just as important as the physical. We need to be as sharp as we can be. So far it's been less challenging that I imagined, but that won't last long. The Quilm can be very creative when it comes to things like these; they're often paid to create prisons and military training fields."

"Father," Kenarn said seriously, "I need to know . . . what are our chances?"

The Doctor shook his head. "I'm afraid I can't tell you, any of you. The Quilm are very clever and rather bloodthirsty, but they don't cheat and they care a lot about having a good percentage of their contestants make it. Now, enough talk. Thalmidor, if you really can't meditate, get us moving after fifteen minutes."

They all sat cross-legged, backs to the wall. After three minutes Thalmidor sighed and stood up. He had never been good at meditation in the best of times and this was a high-charged, stressful situation. He looked at the rest of his family and then started packing up the new gear, making sure to give everyone a fair share. After ten more minutes he gripped the Doctor under his arms and lifted him to his feet. The Doctor's eyes came open and he asked, "Anything?"

"Afraid not," Thalmidor responded. "I'll get the others."

Once everyone was ready, the Doctor gave out more instructions. "Each level is likely to be harder than the next, so be ready for anything. We'll keep our same order which should be easier now that you have proper footwear, Adora. Everyone ready?"

All nodded.

A chime sounded, and the unseen voice called out, "Sixty seconds to go. A metal door will open to your left; step through and you will begin Level Two. Remember folks, the Who Family needs _your_ donations to make it through—The Game! The more generous you are, the more likely the pretty Adora and her family will survive. We have yet to have anyone make a Hint Level donation, which will provide clues for either a Challenge Question, a labyrinth clue or a Special Challenge, but you still have plenty of time. Now, let's get back to—The Game!"


	8. Chapter 8

8—Carnival of Monsters

The Doctor held up a hand, slowing his dash. "We're coming to a large, poorly-lit room, so take care; it's another special challenge. At least we know we're going the right way. Wonder what's in—"

The unseen voice boomed, "The Who Family has just come across the first of three hungry creatures ready for action. Will they survive Level Two—the Carnival of Monsters? Let's see how far they can get against their first nemesis—a Ravenous, Bugblatter Beast of Traal!"

The Doctor couldn't help it; he started laughing. All three of the others stared at him, shocked, but he couldn't hold it back. "We'll be fine," he chuckled. "Kenarn, get out the towels. Tie them around your heads, thin enough that you can see through, but so your head is completely covered. I know it's strange, but it's going to work. Thalmidor, I believe you have the cable and cutters?"

"Right here, Father."

"I'll go in first and be the decoy," the Doctor told them. "Boys, you can come in after I do. Once the poor thing falls over, tie its legs together and secure the cable with one of the magnets. Adora, just wait until I give you the all-clear. One thing—don't get directly in front of its mouth; it's got a sticky tongue and it _will_ try to eat you. Everyone understand?"

The others nodded.

The Doctor tied his towel around his head and went stumbling into the room, calling out, "Oh dear, I can't see anything! Not a thing! How, oh how will I ever get out of here if I can't see?"

Thalmidor and Kenarn entered the room cautiously. The Doctor kept moaning and carrying on so they stayed out of his way. What they saw was a huge, muddy-brown animal that looked like a cross between a rhinoceros and a toad. The thing had a large horn in the middle of its forehead, two wet, bulbous eyes, a solid body, and four tree-trunk legs with webbed toes. The thing kept shaking its head back and forth, grunting every once in a while.

The Doctor pretended to trip, and landed on the floor with one leg under him. He started shouting, "And now my leg's broken! Oh, the pain! I can't put any weight on it at all. Oh, a broken leg! Whatever shall I do?"

Kenarn and Thalmidor were amazed when the beast toppled over, grunting more than ever. It was flapping its flipper-feet wildly so it took a bit of work to tie its legs together. Thalmidor cut the cable, then secured it with one of the neodymium magnets. It continued to thrash and snort so they moved back quickly.

"Adora, come through," the Doctor whispered. "Everyone stay away from the mouth and keep the towels on." He then called out again, "Oh, I'm blind, can't see anything . . . my leg . . ."

The Doctor sat up, but motioned for the twins, who stood on either side of him and "helped" him out of the room. Once they were in a safe hallway he told everyone, "All set. Let's put things away and we'll continue on."

"Why did that work?" Adora exclaimed. "Why!?"

The Doctor answered cheerfully, "Ravenous, Bugblatter Beasts of Traal are so incredibly stupid they believe that if you can't see them they can't see you. Recently they've bred some geniuses that can understand human speech; it believed that because my leg was 'broken' it had one too. Now we need to be _extra_ cautious; there's no possible way the rest of these creatures will be easy to deal with."

It wasn't long before they rounded a corner and entered another dim room, this one with high tables and chairs placed in a random pattern. The unseen voice announced, "So far the Who Family has had an easy time of it, but now comes a true test of their skill—the second obstacle in the Carnival of Monsters. Will anyone survive? Remember, you still have time left to make a donation to see the Who Family through. Now, let's watch the action as the family takes on—A Beholder!"

The Doctor grabbed both Thalmidor and Kenarn by an arm and hauled them out of the room. "We've got trouble!" he cried out. "A Beholder is _very_ dangerous. It can affect your time-stream, or suck out all your blood, or make you go to sleep so it can eat you later and that's only half the story. Did it see us—looks like not. Adora, you'll make a run for it while we take it on."

"I will not!" Adora protested.

"Adora, you will listen to _Papa_ and do as you're told. Thalmidor, we're going to need that weapon after all. Looks like a plasma rifle; how good a shot are you?"

Thalmidor said grimly, "I can shoot the bill off a hummingbird with a fine laser pulse at thirty yards, but I've never used one of these before, and certainly not under this much pressure. What does a plasma rifle shoot?"

"It's a cross between a fireball and a bolt of lightning, basically. It's a green orb of specialized energy the size of a tennis ball, not as sharp as a laser but more powerful. Still, it's going to take a lot to get that Beholder down. I wish we had something to throw . . ." The Doctor looked frustrated.

"We have energy bars—I packed up a whole box like you told me," Adora answered.

The Doctor took one of the treats, considering. "They won't do much, but they may grab its attention long enough for Thalmidor to get a shot off. Kenarn, load up with those bars. Adora, get across as fast as you can; you'll only get in the way here and I don't want to have to worry about your safety. Make sure you stay under cover whenever you can, all of you. Let's go!"

Adora ran in first and ducked under a table. "I don't see it," she called.

"Kenarn, go to Adora and see if you can spot it."

Kenarn dashed in and took cover under another table. "No sign, but the room goes up a _long_ way. It could be up there where it's too dark to notice. How fast does it move?"

"Never seen one up-close actually, so I have no idea," the Doctor said, joining Kenarn under his table. Adora, get a move on. Thalmidor, I want—"

The table the Doctor and Kenarn were under suddenly vaporized as a beam of _something_ hit it dead-on. Adora screamed and ran forward.

"Back, back!" the Doctor yelled. "Adora, _get back!"_

The Doctor started to head for Adora as a huge, living ball of flesh darted down from the ceiling and a red beam hit Kenarn on the top of his head. Kenarn started screaming himself, and between him, Adora, and the Doctor's yelling, Thalmidor couldn't hear a thing. He pulled back on the handle at the top of the plasma rifle, took a deep breath and fired.

A green orb of light hit the Beholder in the side. It turned around and Thalmidor saw a huge black eye with a mouth of sharp teeth and flailing tentacles coming from its head like hair. It headed straight for him but stopped just at the room's edge. Thalmidor shot it right in the mouth and it backed off, turning back to Kenarn and the Doctor. He shot it again as Adora tried pulling the Doctor away, who was holding on to Kenarn for dear life. The thing turned its back on Thalmidor and bit down on the Doctor's left shoulder and the Doctor cried out in pain. Adora reached into the Doctor's coat pocket, swinging out the shard of glass. She stabbed it in the middle of its eye as Thalmidor fired again. The Beholder made a wheezing noise and headed for the ceiling. Thalmidor tracked its path and fired over and over until he ran out of shots. He ducked under a table himself as he reloaded the plasma rifle, barely noticing that the others had made it to the far side of the room. Kenarn was still screaming, trying to get away, but the Doctor was sitting on him while Adora used a towel to staunch the blood flowing from the Doctor's injury. The Doctor bellowed, "Thalmidor, _enough!_ Get over here while there's still time—it's wounded. If you don't hurry it'll come back, and I can't control Kenarn much longer by myself . . ."

Thalmidor made a break for it. He ran to his family as furniture disintegrated around him, the Beholder regrouping and swooping down. He rolled onto his back just as the beast got to him, shoved his weapon into the thing's pupil and fired three shots in quick succession. The creature howled and flopped to the floor, apparently unable to rise. He sat up and continued to shoot at the Beholder until its tentacles went limp. Thalmidor then crossed to the far side of the room and took stock of the situation. Kenarn was still trying to break free, sobbing, but the Doctor had a grip on one leg. Thalmidor grabbed his twin under the arms and pulled him in the hallway and out of sight of the creature, calling out, "Kenarn, what's wrong? Father, what's wrong with him?"

The Doctor came over and sat next to Kenarn, Adora right behind holding a folded towel to the Doctor's injured shoulder. "Beholders can induce fear in their victims. He should be back to normal in a few minutes now that it's dead. Just hold onto him and _don't_ let go; if he runs off . . ."

"Why didn't it come after me?" Thalmidor wanted to know. "It could have come right out of the room to attack me, but it didn't—why?"

"There must be some sort of force-field that keeps the creatures in the rooms rather than roaming the corridors, but never mind that now. Adora, reach in my suit pocket and get my sonic screwdriver; setting ninety-three can slow down the bleeding. Kenarn, calm down. We're safe, Kenarn; just calm down . . ."

Within a minute or two Kenarn stopped crying and sat up fully. Thalmidor got out a towel so Kenarn could wipe his face, then said to everyone, "We're in poor shape, but we'd better get a move-on; we don't have a lot of time left and we have to face one more monster, plus a whole level. Father, can you walk?"

"Hang on a moment; I've got to get these wounds closed," Adora told him. "There. As good as I can do under the circumstances. Doc—Papa?"

The Doctor made it to his feet, wobbled, then stood tall. "I'm ready. You, Kenarn?"

Kenarn also stood, still trembling a little. "I can make it."

The Doctor led the way, Kenarn right behind. Thalmidor came next, with Adora bringing up the rear. They only went for fifteen minutes before they came to the last room, the invisible voice saying, "The Who Family faces one more creature before Challenge Question Two. Let's see how they handle—an Acid Dragon! Those of you at home and in the stands remember this is your last opportunity to donate to the Who Family and potentially save their lives. Good luck!"

"Acid," the Doctor muttered. "We have absolutely nothing to protect us from acid and the room's practically empty. Thalmidor, follow behind us. Adora, I expect you to follow my instructions this time and get across as fast as you can. Kenarn, stay with Adora."

Adora shook her head. "I smell something . . . I have a feeling . . . I've smelled this before, somewhere."

"Father, I should go first," Thalmidor protested. "I can hold it off while you all cross. I can shoot its wings and—"

"Don't argue with me!" the Doctor snapped. "There's precious little cover in that room, and if it gets you we might not make it."

"That's why I _must_ go first!" Thalmidor insisted. "You'll all be helpless . . ."

"It's not up for discussion, Thalmidor; I'm going in first! Kenarn can follow Adora and . . . wait, where's Adora? _Adora!_"

"She snuck in!" Kenarn gasped. "It'll get her for sure!"

Adora stood in the middle of the room, without any cover or back-up. They watched, amazed, as the dragon touched down in front of her and gently brought its head to where Adora could reach out and pet it. "It's all right," she called softly. "The Quilm made a mistake; this isn't a dragon, it's a Prinny. They're pets on Renstigon—boys, don't you remember? I took you to a farm one day. I knew I remembered the smell . . ."

"But . . . those Prinnies were small, maybe the size of a horse. How did this one get so big?" Kenarn asked.

"I heard they can grow depending on what you feed them; the ones at the farm had a vegan diet; no animals or animal products at all. If this one's been eating lots of meat it has the potential to grow as large as a Milfin space cruiser. They do breathe acid, but that's only in self-defense." Adora stroked the head and said calmly, "Kenarn, hand over the energy bars; I'll feed it some to keep it docile and we can figure out how to disable it without killing the poor beast."

She got Kenarn's energy bars and put them in a small pile in front of the Prinny. "There you go," she crooned, "a nice little snack. You won't hurt us any more than we'll hurt you, right?"

She backed up a little so the Prinny could eat the energy bars without sucking her in, and the creature lay on its belly so Adora could pet it on the nose and move up to scratch its ears. It hummed contentedly while Adora fussed over it. "Just a big baby, you are . . . you won't hurt us."

Just then Thalmidor walked into the room, plasma rifle in hand.

"Thalmidor, what are you doing?" Adora questioned, moving between her son and the beast. "It's not going to do anything to us as long as we treat it gently . . ."

"We've got to disable it, Adora," Thalmidor told her softly. "The rules say disable or kill any of the live creatures. It's not going to stay still if we try to tie it up, and there's nothing else . . . I'll be humane, one shot to each eye and—"

"I won't let you," Adora replied, just as quiet. "Remember who I am, Thalmidor. It's not a danger to us; it's just a helpless—"

Suddenly the Prinny made a horrible, keening sound. It got up on its haunches, wobbled, then fell to the ground, apparently dead.

"What happened to it?" Adora wailed. "What . . . the poor thing . . ."

"It might have been the energy bars," the Doctor called. "If I remember correctly they can't process artificial colors or flavors. Come on, we have to keep moving."

Adora gave one more sorrowful look at the Prinny, then dashed after the others.


	9. Chapter 9

9—One More Rest

"Who Family, it's time for another Challenge Question. Should you answer correctly you will move on to Level Three and get more supplies. If not, The Game is finished along with your lives. Here is the question: A man is found shot to death in a locked room. In the room are four chairs, a table, and fifty-three bicycles. Why was the man killed? Again, you have three yes-or-no questions you may ask, one minute to answer, and Doctor will speak for the family. Time starts—now!"

"We need to know if the bicycles can be ridden. Maybe the man broke them," Adora suggested.

"Were the bicycles rideable?" the Doctor asked.

"No. Two more questions."

Kenarn spoke up. "Ask if they were broken, Father."

"Were the bicycles broken or damaged?"

"No. One more question."

"Maybe the bicycles aren't real—they may be symbols of something else. They might be a special kind of bicycle," Thalmidor said. "What kind of bicycle is one you can't ride? Maybe it's how many there are in the room?"

"You might be on the right track, Thalmidor," the Doctor agreed. "Is the number of bicycles significant?"

"Yes. You are out of questions. Fifteen seconds."

"I think . . . I think . . ." Adora muttered, "What if it's a game, like dominoes or cards?"

"Adora, you're brilliant!" the Doctor hugged her. "The man was shot for cheating at cards!"

"Correct! Good job, Who Family. Step onto the green square to rise to Level Three, with more donations, more food and water, more rest . . . and more challenges."

The four weary Time Lords got on the platform and were raised to the next level. To their surprise there was barely room for them in the chamber stuffed full of water, food, and items to sort through. The voice told them, "You have been donated three clues and two special items with conditions attached. Next to the water is an extra-large bottle of champagne, meant for celebration once you successfully complete—The Game. You are not required to take it with you due to its size and shape but if you do so you will receive fifteen extra minutes to finish the labyrinth. Your decision?"

The Doctor lifted the bottle, shrugged and said, "We will take it with us. It'll just fit in my backpack and I can put a few other things in if I'm clever enough. Also, we need the extra time; that one bit was hard."

The voice continued, "The next special item is a large first-aid kit. You may use its contents without taking the whole thing with you. It is next to the champagne. Now Who Family, take advantage of a final round of—Lost and Found!"

Kenarn and Thalmidor hurried over to the pile and started digging. Kenarn called joyfully, "A serrated hunting knife—take it, Thalmidor! Here's another . . ."

Thalmidor pulled out a wooden canoe paddle. "I can't believe some of this stuff."

He shook his head, tossing it aside and grabbing something else. "A huge container of liquid soap. Here we are, fighting for our lives and someone out there wants us to wash up."

"Don't complain too much; we're lucky we got anything," Kenarn reminded him.

Adora was opening the first-aid kit with the Doctor to care for his wounds. "This is more of a med kit than a first aid one," she gushed. "It's got a dermal regenerator, marrow-stimulators to replace lost blood, broad-spectrum antidotes and anti-venoms, a bone-knitter . . . we've got half a hospital here!"

"Flares and a flare gun, Father. Can we take them?" Kenarn wanted to know.

The Doctor considered, then nodded. "Two of the last three rooms were darker than I liked. Thank you Adora; now let's see how much water we have . . ."

"Pool balls, Father, and a cue stick," Thalmidor announced.

The Doctor was wiping himself off with some water and a towel. "Take the balls; we might need something to throw."

Kenarn opened a small box full of purple cubes with orange spikes sticking out of them. "What are these, Father?"

The Doctor came over to have a look. "By Rassilon!" he gasped. "It's a case of Trinzataub mines—we could blow a hole in the hull of the ship with these! I'm not sure what to do; we don't want to use them and they're heavy to carry, but the Quilm shouldn't have them either . . ."

"Papa, they scare me," Adora whined. "Please leave them alone . . ."

The Doctor gave Adora a surprised look, but set the mines aside.

"Friction removing spray," Thalmidor told them. "Makes anything slide smooth as glass."

"Take it," the Doctor agreed.

"Hyper-duct tape, Father," Kenarn tossed a roll to the Doctor, who caught it.

"Papa, should we take more food?" Adora questioned.

Kenarn held up a box. "This is a set of tiny disintegration mines with remote activating switches."

The Doctor shook his head. "They're not very useful . . . too small. "

"But it's light, Father, and you never know," Kenarn argued.

"Fine," the Doctor said. "You carry them, though."

Thalmidor pulled out a sleeping bag in disgust, throwing it aside. "Are people really this dense?" he wondered. "And a bathroom scale—what are we going to do, weigh the next—"

"Just keep at it, Thalmidor," Kenarn urged. "Ignore the junk."

Thalmidor started pulling at some nylon cloth. "Kenarn, come help me; this thing is huge!"

Kenarn ran over to help his twin. "You're right; it's massive. No wonder the pile is so big. What could it be?"

"Here, I found a label . . . it's a parachute! What _idiot_ thinks we need a parachute!? It'll take the rest of our time just getting it out of the way so we can look for other stuff!"

"Then come rest," the Doctor directed. "We're pretty much at the limit of what we can carry anyway. I want everyone to drink two bottles of water and have at least three energy bars."

They had just sat down when a door opened at the far end of the room and the red-faced, black uniformed being came toward them with a grey tablet computer. "This is your first clue and trust me when I say it was _very_ expensive. You have really caught the hearts of Quilm across the ship; you're the most entertaining—"

"What is it?" the Doctor snapped.

The being told them, "This is a map from here to the next Special Challenge. It's a fluid map; it will change as you move through the labyrinth, with the safe route marked out in silver. Mauve squares indicate traps or poisons and black squares are tubes that lead to hatches on the outer hull; get in one of those and you'll be expelled into vacuum. Another clue is to avoid stepping on black or mauve squares; they are set off by pressure."

The Doctor handed the tablet to Adora. "And our last clue?"

"The last clue concerns the final Challenge Question. You will be told at that time so you do not forget. Good luck, Who Family!"

The being gave a bow and left them.

The unseen voice rang out, "And that concludes the final round of—Lost and Found! Let's leave the Who Family to rest while we thank our sponsors . . ."

The Doctor finished eating, then came over to Thalmidor and told him, "I wouldn't usually do this, Thalmidor, but I'm going to enter your mind and start you out on your meditation. It's important that we all take some time to get centered. Get comfortable and we'll start. Adora and Kenarn, you can do it by yourselves."

The Doctor put his hands on either side of Thalmidor's face and told him, "I want you to picture a place where you feel calm and peaceful, any place you want. That's it . . . now let me guide you . . . good . . ."

In a minute Thalmidor was in a trance. The Doctor moved away from him, sat cross-legged with his back leaning against a wall and started his own meditation.


	10. Chapter 10

10—Three Times the Charm

After twenty-nine minutes the Doctor roused everyone and had them load up. "Papa, we remembered to grab the anti-venoms and antidotes, right?"

"I think they're in your pack, Adora. That reminds me; we'll need to find a way to avoid stepping on any of the traps. How many magnets do we have left?"

"We've only used one of the small ones, Father," Kenarn reported.

"And cable?"

Thalmidor looked and said cautiously, "We used about twenty feet to tie up the Ravenous, Bugblatter Beast of Traal, so maybe 180 feet . . ."

The Doctor declared, "We may need all of both to get through. We can shoot a magnet up to the ceiling and attach a length of cable to it, then swing over to safety."

"How will we get them to the ceiling, Papa?" Adora wanted to know.

"Do we have a lot of flares, Kenarn?"

Kenarn looked and replied, "One hundred. That should give us plenty to fire and still be able to light up a room."

The Doctor smiled. "We can attach small magnets to the flares with the hyper-duct tape. Adora, you have the map; does it show how many traps there are?"

Adora tapped on the screen, frowning. "It isn't coming up; maybe we can't see until we start. I hope it gives us a good bit of map at a time rather than square by square; it'll go faster. How much time do we have left, anyway? Do we know?"

Kenarn looked at the wrist-strap and shrugged. "It's navy blue now, but that doesn't really give us a time frame. It started at a robin's egg blue, so . . ."

"That's not encouraging," the Doctor commented. "Still, we're doing the best we can."

The unseen voice announced, "Who Family, get ready for Level Three—more dangers, yet closer to the goal of freedom. Here comes the final section of—The Game!"

The Doctor went first, following Adora's direction, and the twins went last. They were able to jump over most of the traps, but others they had to bypass by using cable and magnets. They traveled for about twenty minutes before the way in front of them became pitch black. The unseen voice announced, "The Who Family is now in a position to show their true strength and cunning against our Special Challenge. Is it an Ice Warrior, a troop of Cybermen, a Dalek? No, this challenge is far more difficult; they will be going up against three, yes three—Raston Warrior Robots! Will the Who Family survive—Man Versus Machine?"

A door opened in front of them to reveal a brightly lit, large, triangular-shaped empty room. They were at the top corner of the triangle. Far to the left and right and straight across from them at the other end of the room were three figures, all motionless. They were smooth and lithe, as though someone had sanded all the features off a human and dipped it in silver. Beyond the robots was a door, presumably to the end of the challenge.

The Doctor looked very grave. "Raston Warrior Robots are the deadliest androids in the Universe. They react to any movement at all. They have armaments built in that shoot from their arms—metal arrows with sharp edges. They can teleport in an instant and are impervious to energy weapons, including plasma rifles. I'll demonstrate what they're capable of."

He rolled the ball into the left side of the room. Instantly the three androids appeared around the ball and shot at it with their arrows. One of them hit the ball dead-on and stopped its motion, pinning it to the floor. The three teleported to the door, stood for a minute, then instantly appeared back at their posts, appearing to freeze into position once more.

Kenarn frowned. "What can we do, Father?"

The Doctor started pacing. "I have no idea."

Thalmidor thought for a moment and asked, "You rolled the pool ball pretty slowly; would they be able to react to something faster?"

"What did you have in mind, Thalmidor?" Kenarn asked.

"I was wondering if we could trick them into firing at one another, or something. Kenarn, humor me—shoot a flare at the one straight across from us, and see what happens."

Kenarn took the gun and fired. The two farthest robots closed in on the one in the middle, but did not fire. The flare hit the middle android and blew up, smoking, but did not damage it. "Doesn't look like they consider themselves to be targets," he commented.

"But did you notice, Kenarn, they didn't react quickly enough to fire on the flare. They're speedy, but they can be outrun."

"Not by us," the Doctor said. "But there _must_ be a way!"

"I have an idea, Father, but it involves a big risk," Kenarn said earnestly. "I need to enter the room for just a second. If I die . . . you can't blame yourself, you just can't . . . everyone move back into the hall, just in case."

He dashed into the room. He went only far enough to step in, then was out again. An arrow shot past him as the robots converged, but he got out in time.

Kenarn smiled and said, "Good, I got one of the arrows! Now, let's see . . ."

He took a magnet and activated it. The arrow pulled itself out of the wall and stuck fast to the magnet in his hands. Kenarn whooped, crying out, "It'll work! All we need to do is get a magnet toward the center of the room and they'll all get stuck."

"But how do we get something fast enough?" Thalmidor asked. "The flares are fast, but you can't attach a big enough magnet to one. If we had a rocket . . ."

The Doctor stood to his feet, a light in his eyes. "We _do_ have one—the champagne! Shake it up and uncork it and it'll act like a rocket. But how do we uncork it fast enough?"

"Father," Kenarn responded, "remember the disintegration mines? We can blow up the cork without damaging the bottle, and it'll shoot into the room. All we have to do is attach a big magnet to the bottle and we've got them all!"

Quickly the three men set to work. The Doctor used the hyper-duct tape to attach the biggest magnet to one side of the bottle. Kenarn set a disintegration mine on the cork, and Thalmidor sprayed the bottom of the bottle with the friction-removing spray. Adora went through their items and removed everything the magnets might influence. The Doctor shook the bottle of champagne vigorously for several minutes, then set it on the floor and told Kenarn, "Now!"

Kenarn activated the mine and the champagne bottle shot into the room. Thalmidor watched as the three androids converged on the bottle, then activated the magnet. The three machines were slammed into the side of the wall as the magnet pulled them to itself and the wall.

"There's one more problem," the Doctor observed. "They can still shoot us."

"I think the magnet's strong enough to redirect the arrows, but there's only one way to know," Thalmidor told them. "I'll be careful, Father, I will . . ."

Thalmidor came in cautiously. An arrow whizzed out, but got captured by the power of the magnet and bent back on itself and the mass of metal. "We've got it! Let's hurry . . ."

The four ran across the room and made it to the door, closing it behind them. There was a short tunnel in front of them, with a bright light at the end. As they stepped out the unseen voice boomed, "Congratulations, Who Family! There is one Challenge Question left before you can take on the Final Challenge! The Question is—"

"Wait just a moment!" The Doctor interrupted. "What about our clue?"

"The clue will be revealed at the end of the question. You have one minute, and again Doctor will speak for the family."

"Do we still get three questions?"

"Yes. Now, the final Challenge Question: A woman was locked in a room with a calendar, a bed, and a piano. How did she eat, drink, and get out of the room? Each item is tied to one goal. Your clue is—the calendar provides food. Your time starts—now!"

Adora shook her head. "I don't know about this one . . ."

Thalmidor looked puzzled. "I have a question . . . would we be able to do what she did? Maybe there's something special about her . . ."

The Doctor asked, "Would we be able to do the same as the woman did—eat, drink, and get out, using the same equipment?"

"No. Two more questions."

"Is the woman a normal woman?" the Doctor questioned.

"No. One more question."

"Is the woman the key to the puzzle?" the Doctor asked.

"No. No more questions. Forty seconds."

"I can't think," Adora muttered. "We're missing something . . ."

"What food can a calendar give anyone?" Kenarn asked. "It's just a bunch of dates . . ."

"Exactly!" the Doctor exulted. "It's not real, it's a word puzzle. She ate dates off the calendar. Now, what in a bed can get you out of a room?"

"I don't know . . ." Thalmidor mused. "Wire to pick the lock?"

"You're going about it wrong, Thalmidor," Adora corrected, "it's a word puzzle. A bed has a mattress, coiled springs . . ."

"Springs!" the Doctor exulted. "The woman drank water from the springs. And now, the piano . . . the piano . . . keys! It's the keys!" He announced, "The woman ate dates off the calendar, drank water from the bed springs, and used the piano keys to get out."

"Impressive, Who Family—you are correct! You have successfully answered Challenge Question Three. Now, for the Final Challenge—the Mile Mirror Maze! You have eleven minutes to get from this spot to your vehicle at the other end. There are no traps or tricks, simply a labyrinth of mirrors, and all of you must be at the other side before time runs out. You start—now!"

"We have to hurry!" Adora called out. "The walls aren't that high so we can . . ."

"Hang on," Thalmidor said. "Father, can I stand on your shoulders?"

The Doctor was puzzled, but boosted Thalmidor up. "What do you see?"

"I was afraid of that," Thalmidor said grimly, climbing down. "The Mile Mirror Maze is just that—a mile long. We don't have a chance without—"

"I've had about enough of this," the Doctor declared. "Boys, we're going to get to the middle of that maze as quick as we can. Dead ends don't matter as long as you're near the center. Adora, stay with me."

The family wound through the maze as quickly as they could. The voice from above intoned, "Three minutes remaining."

"Boys?" the Doctor called out, "Set your sonics to setting twelve and hold on!"

Adora could hear a ringing getting louder and louder. The Doctor turned on his sonic and set it to a high pitch. The mirrors shook, hummed loudly, and shattered into fragments.

"Make a run for it!" the Doctor yelled.

Everyone went racing toward the TARDIS as fast as they could, the Doctor scooping up Adora as she would never make it on her own. The voice counted down, "Thirty seconds . . . twenty . . . congratulations, Who Family, you have completed the Final Challenge. Unfortunately, you have violated the last rule of The Game as you have significantly damaged the playing field."

"I can't get in," the Doctor called, trying to fit his key into the TARDIS lock. "There's a force field . . ."

The voice boomed, "You will therefore be executed by your choice of method, no limitations or exceptions. You can choose to die in separate ways, or all the same, as you see fit. The little one will be first so she does not have to see the rest of her family meet their ends. You have two minutes to decide on your method of death. Feel free to discuss your choices and anyone can speak for the family or themselves."

The crowd gasped, then started "booing" their displeasure.

The Doctor sank to the ground. Adora went to him and put her hands on his shoulders telling him, "It's all right. You did the best you could; we all did. Boys, come here and . . . boys?"

Thalmidor and Kenarn were having a frantic, whispered conversation in front of the TARDIS with a lot of pointing and wild gesticulations. Kenarn turned partway around and asked, "Anything? _Absolutely_ anything?"

"Yes," the voice rang. "There are no limitations or exceptions."

The twins talked a few seconds more, then turned around, grinning. "Then we all want to die . . . of natural causes!" they announced in unison.

The arena went utterly silent.


	11. Chapter 11

11—A Fond Farewell

"No!"

"I _promise_ it will be different, I—"

"Like _this_ was different? _This_ is nothing to you! _This_ is how things are all the time!"

The Doctor ran his hands through his hair and tried to look like he was in control. He and Adora had gone to the room she had used on her last TARDIS trip so they wouldn't be arguing in front of the twins. He was trying to explain to Adora why she should stay and he was not winning. Still, he had to try. "There are some wonderful, peaceful natural wonders that you can see, ones you _deserve_ to see. We can go places where there's no sentient beings within a galaxy of us. I won't turn off the shields again, I promise. I won't take us anywhere—"

"Exactly!" Adora pounced triumphantly. "You're not going to take _us_ anywhere. You will return me to my TARDIS immediately and let me get back to my life . . . my safe, sedate, predictable life. I want to drink earl grey on my own porch and have you be just a memory of what might have been but fortunately _isn't!_ Be content with taking the boys; you've been without them long enough. They've had a taste of what's out there and they can't wait to bite into more. _I've_ had a taste of your life too, and I just want to spit it out! Let me go, Doctor, and do it now before I really get angry. You have no right to kidnap me! You . . ."

Adora stopped, and changed her tone to one of pleading. "I'm begging you, Doctor. I've gone with you, I've had an adventure with you, even. I'm tired and scared, scared I'll never get back to what I want most. You wanted the boys and they're yours now; I won't interfere . . ."

"I told you before," the Doctor sighed, "this isn't about 'my' boys or 'your' boys. We don't own them; they're their own people. We both love them. We both want them to have wonderful lives. They want you here as much as I do; don't let them be your excuse for leaving. And if I'm your excuse . . ."

"It's not an excuse; it's a whole different way of viewing the Universe. How would you feel if I locked you away from your TARDIS and traveling? Wouldn't you want to go back? Wouldn't you beg to be set free? Set me free, Doctor. Let me go home."

The Doctor went to Adora and took her in his arms, kissing her on top of her head. "I'll set the coordinates and talk to the TARDIS," he told her softly.

Adora sat down on the bed, then stood up and looked for some clothes. When she found some she got undressed and headed for the shower. She washed her body and hair well, then stood under the lukewarm water and centered herself. She knew the twins would try to get her to stay as well but she really hoped they would be a little less strident about it. It had been hard to get the Doctor to back off; she didn't want it to be the same with them.

She finished her shower, got dressed and dried her hair well. She brushed out the snarls then headed for the Console Room. The Doctor was there, along with the twins. He was just telling them, "Not a word from either of you except good-bye, understand? Oh, Adora! We're just arriving on Earth; we'll have you there in a jiffy. Now Kenarn, you come over here and disengage the temporal gyroscope, and Thalmidor . . ."

Adora didn't listen to the rest. She waited until the craft had stopped and stepped out. There was her TARDIS, just as she had left it. She unlocked it and herded the twins in, saying, "Remember to grab everything I packed up for you, and I do mean _everything_. I'm sure your father will want to see it all, which is why we took it to begin with. Now don't hurt your back, Thalmidor, you don't have to do it in one trip. Kenarn, don't forget that box of pictures in the corner; they're _very_ important. Boys, let your father help you with the heavier items, please . . ."

At last the task was done and they all were in Adora's TARDIS. She hugged Kenarn and told him, "Bring me back some nice stones for my collection; you know how I love gems."

"Good-bye Mother," Kenarn told her. "I'll bring you a rainbow of pearls."

"Thalmidor," she reached over to him, "I'm counting on you to be here this fall to get me enough firewood for a few winter fires. Come before the first snow, understand? Now boys, head over to your father's TARDIS; we need to be alone."

"Good-bye, Mother," Thalmidor kissed her cheek. "I won't forget . . ."

The twins left. Adora reached over to take the Doctor's hand and told him, "You are welcome to bring the boys whenever you like, for as long as you want to stay, but let's be realistic; you won't be back for a long time, maybe not ever . . ."

The Doctor took her hands. "We _will_ be back, and soon. Also, I'm giving you a device so you can signal us to come whenever you need us. I at least want you to let me know when you regenerate, all right? Maybe the next you will . . . I'm not giving up, Adora, not ever."

Adora shook her head, smiling. "Always the dreamer, you are. When you feel the boys are ready you can come get my TARDIS and they can go off on their own, if that suits you all. Bring me flowers if you want; beautiful flowers and stardust and tea. Don't forget about me Doctor, but don't try to take me adventuring again; it's not good for my health, or my sanity."

"Next regeneration we'll try again," the Doctor told her. "Keep well, Adora. We'll be back to visit soon."

They hugged, shared one last sweet kiss and then he was gone.

***** Sequel to follow: Going to the Chapel *****


End file.
